BASEBALL

Baseball Falls 5-4 in 11 at UNCP; Smith Racks Up Five Hits in Six At-Bats

PEMBROKE, N.C. – Despite a 5-for-6 night at the plate by Tyler Smith, Pfeiffer University suffered its 12th-straight loss in heartbreaking fashion as host UNC-Pembroke scored a 5-4, 11-inning win over the Falcons on Wednesday night. A two-out walk kept the inning alive for a Kenny Mickens walk-off double. The #12 Braves improve to 26-6 overall while the Falcons dip to 13-24.

In the 11th, Alex Pearce drew the two-out walk to keep the inning alive and moved to second on a wild pitch. After an intentional walk to Jason Coker to set up a possible force, Mickens came up with his two-bagger to right-center for the game-winner. In the top half of the frame, Pfeiffer had runners at the corners with one out until Jesse Dunn hit into a 5-4-3 double play to retire the side.

Trailing 3-0 through five, Pfeiffer got on the board in the top of the sixth as Eric Shoemaker scored from third on a UNCP throwing error. Shoemaker started the frame with a single to right. The Falcons took a 4-3 lead an inning later with Matt Wade starting the rally with an RBI-single down the right field line. Shoemaker later scored Wade with a groundout to short while Smith, who reached on one of his five hits on the night, scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. UNCP would tie it and force extra baseball with a Coker solo home run to lead off the eighth.

Behind Smith, Shoemaker and Aarin Sharpe each had a pair of hits for the Falcons. Jacob Moore tossed six innings in relief on Tuesday allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in a no-decision. Pfeiffer out-hit the Braves 13-11.

Pfeiffer gets back to action on Saturday and Sunday playing their final conference series at home for 2011. St. Andrews will come to town for a three-game set beginning with a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.